Hand Detailing On A Bait

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I was thinking about maybe trying to do some hand detailing on some of my baits to get some really fine details. Does anyone do this? I think it would save a bunch of time and be a lot easier if you were using it to do a red line around the gills or the blue lines back from the eyes on some bluegills. I use createx for airbrushing but that wont work to get any coverage for this. Please let my know what you think or how I should go about this. Thanks for all you help,

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I prefer stencils because they give a more integrated look and you can get both sides of the bait exactly the same. But I have used Sharpie and similar markers occasionally and they work OK, depending on how you topcoat your bait. Don't use them if you topcoat contains solvent because it will cause the Sharpie to run. You might also consider doing the details in thinned airbrush paint applied with a very fine artist's brush or a calligraphy pen (that's how I do signatures).

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I was thinking about maybe trying to do some hand detailing on some of my baits to get some really fine details. Does anyone do this? I think it would save a bunch of time and be a lot easier if you were using it to do a red line around the gills or the blue lines back from the eyes on some bluegills. I use createx for airbrushing but that wont work to get any coverage for this. Please let my know what you think or how I should go about this. Thanks for all you help,

Tim

I like stencils too but I can still screw up a bait from one side to the other. Why won't createx work for hand painting? If the paint isn't dark enough then use a white undercoat.

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I was thinking about maybe trying to do some hand detailing on some of my baits to get some really fine details. Does anyone do this? I think it would save a bunch of time and be a lot easier if you were using it to do a red line around the gills or the blue lines back from the eyes on some bluegills. I use createx for airbrushing but that wont work to get any coverage for this. Please let my know what you think or how I should go about this. Thanks for all you help,

Tim

I think stencils are ok as a guide but freehand air brushing adds caracter to the lure. As little as freehand a kill dot or freehanding the bars on a gill! Just my 2 cents!

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Wow that bait looks great. I freehand a lot on my baits right now and I started to use the future shine stuff which seems to help the paint flow for longer without getting into trouble having the little splatter marks coming out. I used to use a lot of stencils but was trying to get away from that all together except for maybe a gill or a craw pattern. I will see about doing the white base for the lighter colors on top of darker colors and see if I can keep a steady enough hand without blasting it once which I tend to do from time to time. Thanks for all the help guys,

Tim

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I stink at adding fine detail with an air brush, and am equally bad at stenciling, so I use solvent based and water based sharpies a lot. I am working at stenciling, because I like the repeatablity, but it's an uphill struggle for me, so I keep a wood block in front of me with an assorment of fine tipped sharpies in drilled holes, so I can access them easily, and they are stored cap down so they don't dry out. The water based sharpies need to be stored cap up.

Adding black trout dots, or crappie markings, is a cinch with a black solvent based marker.

Hitting both with a hair dryer first, and then shooting a coat of Createx clear over them, keeps them from running.

I actually like how the red solvent based sharpie color bleeds down a little when I use it for gills, and hang the bait from the nose to dry after dipping. Kind of like it's bleeding a little. And I redo the red line after I top coat, to make it even more vivid and to replace any color that might have bled down.

But heat setting a solvent based sharpie really stops the bleeding for the most part.

I also use the metalic silver sharpie for making mouth, gill, and fin outlines, and enhance the fins with other sharpie colors, until I get what I want.

I also use Createx, applied with an artist's brush with most of the bristles removed, to add details to my baits, like the turquoise gill plate on my bluegills. Just be sure to heat set it more, because it's thicker than an airbrushed coat.

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I have ventured into this with very little success. I do kill dots with a dotting brush, and thats about it. One thing I did try that hasn't worked yet, is called "inking" in the figurine world. It will only work on textured areas of baits, but I'll throw out the process so you guys can think about it.

Paint your bait normally with acrylics, then either brush or dip on a coat of future. Take oil based artists paints, that contrast the colors of the bait, maybe red for gill areas, black for lighter areas, etc. and thin a ton with fake turpentine. You want the paint to flow just like water. Now, load a fine tipped brush, and place the tip in a crevice that you want highlighted. The paint will flow into the crevice and coat the entire area. Use a tissue to clean up goofs if there are any. To get really noticeable highlights, this process should be repeated a few times.

Now, as I said, I have tried this on cranks with no real success visually. I use it on airplane models to make the panels stick out and it works great. I think my problem has been that the colors were too similar, but I haven't given up on it yet.

Zack

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I am extremely new at this, so feel free to backhand me for suggesting this......but, I like to color aluminum tape with sharpies, and then cut out designs with an exacto knife and just stick it on the bait. It works great for gills and stripes. Rob

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I am extremely new at this, so feel free to backhand me for suggesting this......but, I like to color aluminum tape with sharpies, and then cut out designs with an exacto knife and just stick it on the bait. It works great for gills and stripes. Rob

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